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Thousand Vales
The Thousand Vales lie west of Promise, and were the site of contention between the Pavonian Imperium and the Tyranny of New Crima in the 480s. Geography Between the lands of Promise and Cas-Teire lies a tremendous range of mountains, and among these mountains lie the Thousand Vales, countless individual valleys each of which is essentially a tiny, self-contained nation. While the Vales are mostly similar, several stand out as of particular importance. The first is the Moonvale, a largish valley near the center of the mountains named for the enormous luminous white stone that lies at its center. The Valefolk all but universally regard the Moonvale as sacred, and by ancient tradition those travelling to or from it are granted safe passage, a notable exception to the usual omnipresence of war among the Vales. The second prodigy is the Deathvale. None know why, but it is known that nothing can enter this Vale and live. Humans or animals that descend into the vale seem to choke on empty air. Plants last somewhat longer, but eventually they too wither and die. The third particularly interesting vale is the Giant’s Cauldron. This lake is perpetually boiling, the evaporating water (presumably) replaced by hot springs from below. The perpetual boiling leaves the air above the lake as humid as a sauna, and the nearby valleys suffer from heavy rainfall. People The Valefolk are human, with a similar phenotype to their Eastern cousins. Each inhabited valley is essentially an autonomous town-state, and it is all but unknown to have one person rule more than one vale. The vales perpetually skirmish with each other over an incredibly complex network of feuds and rivalries, anchored in millennia of oral tradition. However, a given valley will generally be allied to two or three of its neighbors, and this, combined with the tradition of abducting women from rival tribes, ensures sufficient genetic diversity is maintained. Occasionally, a particularly charismatic young leader will gather some followers and set off to settle a new vale, and sometimes a vale will be so reduced by war or disaster or sickness that its inhabitants must emigrate to one of its neighbors. These two processes occur in rough balance, and so the number of inhabited vales remains more or less constant. One quirk worth noting is that a Valefolk man will shave his beard when, and only when, he is defeated in battle. For this reason, a long and full beard is a status symbol amongst the Valefolk, with the greatest warriors having beards of multiple feet in length. Religion While the majority of the Vales practice various forms of animism and spirit-worship, several, particularly on the eastern side, followed the Path. More recently, many vales have declared for the Path, raising this faith to a significant minority. Resources The Vales contain vast, vast populations of the giant elks known as megalocerous. Able to easily traverse the rugged terrain of the Vales as few other beasts can, the megalocerous have flourished, and those vales with no human population are often filled to saturation with the animals. In addition, something about the biochemical properties of the mountain wheat allows the brewing of a beer dubbed ambrosial ale by Pavonian scouts. This ale appears to act as a very mild regenerative agent, promoting healing when drunk. As a side-effect, this means that hangovers, liver poisoning, and other normal effects of alcohol overuse are much reduced. The Vales’ one major lack lies in the almost total absence of Gemstones. Accessible deposits of these stones are rare, and the Valefolk lack the skills necessary to prepare those few deposits they do find. References http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18477835&postcount=1232 Category:Regions Category:Regions of Telluris